He's Special
by gawilliams
Summary: Bones does some thinking while watching over Booth's surgery. Episode addition for The Critic in the Cabernet.
1. Chapter 1

_I just wanted to put a short one shot out there after seeing the latest episode of Bones. This one takes place immediately after the episode as Booth is being wheeled into the operating room. In this one, Bones does some serious thinking as she is there for the surgery as Booth asked her to be. I hope you like it. It's serious as opposed to the humorous ones I've been writing lately. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Bones watched as Booth was put under, his eyes holding hers as he succumbed to the anesthesia. She had placed herself in such a spot that he could see her at this moment, but when the surgery began, she could see it all, both directly as well as on the monitor. Booth had asked her to be there to make sure that nothing went wrong, and she was not going to let him down. The look of pure confidence in her, despite the possibilities of his demise, was so open and telling, that she had almost lost what little emotional control she had left at that point. The tender caring that her friends had shown towards her in the waiting room had almost unhinged her as well, though she had hid behind her usual wall of statistics and denial that this was in any way about her. She knew differently, though.

Despite all that was going on, and with his life in the balance, he had thought only of her. He had as much as told her that he loved her, and she somehow knew that he had almost said it aloud when he had halted them on the way to the O.R. and said that if the worst happened that he wanted her to have his things for the baby. He'd also told her that she would be a great mother. It was right then that she realized all that everyone, even Booth, had been trying to tell her the entire time since she had announced in Sweets' office that she wanted a baby. She had been going about it all wrong. It shouldn't be about a simple medical procedure to produce pregnancy. It shouldn't be about Booth simply being a sperm donor and that was it. It should be about the one person she cared about more than anyone in the world being the father of her child and being there right with her from the first moment of conception. Sweets had been right. A lot of discussion was needed, and she was now able to acknowledge that fact.

The shrill sound of the drill being used to open a part of Booth's skull made her focus her attention on that activity. She noted the minor blood loss that accompanied the small aperture being produced and nodded to herself. So far so good. Looking at the monitor, she could see the small, but evident, tumorous growth. She also noted the surrounding brain tissue and concluded that while difficult, it was a relatively easy tumor to remove. Sometimes scans were unreliable and surprises were found when the tumor was exposed, but not this time.

"Dr. Brennan?" the surgeon called to her.

"Yes, Doctor?" she replied and stepped forward.

"As you can clearly see on the monitor, the tumor does not present any difficulties beyond what we were expecting from the scans," he informed her. "However, I am slightly concerned by this area of darkened tissue here," he said, pointing out what appeared to be some dead tissue. "There is the possibility that the tumor disrupted enough of the normal blood flow that some damage may have occurred. I am going to expand the zone of the exploratory surgery and make sure that only a small portion of tissue has been damaged. If so, then there should be no residual effects."

"What residual effects would there be if the tissue damage is severe?" she asked. She was comfortable with the specialized subject matter, but she was not a specialist herself, hence her needing to ask questions.

"The hallucinations concern me," the surgeon responded honestly. "The size of this tumor is minor and should not have caused such integrated hallucinations into his conscious mind. Yet there were such hallucinations and he remained functional to a heightened degree. If the tissue damage is severe, then the hallucinations could well be permanent."

"Thank you for informing me Doctor," she said stoically.

For the next hour and a half, Bones watched the whole procedure. The tumor was excised and a sample was sent to the lab to confirm that it was benign which was what the Doctor expected. The exploratory surgery was showing very little tissue damage, but a minor aneurysm was discovered and easily repaired.

During the surgery she continued with her soul searching. Was she in fact ready for a child? Yes, she was. She knew somehow that she was. Despite the naiveté she had displayed recently since the subject had been brought up, she had been listening, especially to Booth. His confidence in her, despite his finally admitting that if he couldn't be a full and integrated part of her and the baby's lives then she shouldn't have the child, showed her that she was ready. She just needed to stop and learn to approach this with her heart and soul (assuming she could bring herself to accept such subjective ideas), not her logic. It couldn't be about schedules, procedures, and regimented structure. It had to be about family and what was best for the individual child.

But what of her feelings for Booth? This incident had almost destroyed her. More so than a year before when he'd been shot. This time words had been said, and the all encompassing emotional storm that always hovered around them had been exposed and both had felt it. The look in his eyes as he saw her just outside the surgical pre-op room had been so open and warm that she hadn't been able to help the smile that came to her lips. His look of utter trust and confidence when he'd asked her to be in the surgical ward with him to watch over his surgery had also been as deep an emotional connection as she'd ever felt. The plea that she accept his things if he didn't make it was also revealing. He'd told her he had confidence in her. Not the nanny idea, or all the people who would undoubtedly be there to help her when she eventually had a baby, but her. Putting it all together, not only that, but all the patience, friendship, and genuine trust he'd bestowed upon her added up to the one development in her feelings that she hadn't ever thought possible. She loved him. She didn't know if she deserved all he did for her, but she had it, and was now able to admit to the feelings she'd been feeling since a short while after she had met him. She was in love with Booth. It had only taken nearly five years and this horrifying scare to make her see it.

"Dr. Brennan?" the surgeon called her over again. "I've completed the exploratory and found nothing more than minor tissue damage. The lab report came back benign, so I am ready to finish the surgery. Would you care to assist in the bone reattachment?"

"Yes, thank you, Doctor," she said with a deep sigh of relief. She moved in close and leaned in to begin to assist.

One hour later, she came out of the recovery area, making sure that once she had completed her task, she could come back and sit with him while waiting for him to wake up. She entered a quiet, peaceful room with benches and an altar. Over to one side she saw several rows of candles, some of them lit. Moving over to them, she did as she had once seen Booth do. She lit a candle, and whispered something. Only one who was close by would have been able to know what she'd said. "Watch over him," she'd whispered. "He's someone needed here and he's special. He's shown me what love is." Quickly, before she broke down in complete relief at his being okay, she left the hospital chapel and made her way back to the recovery room. She took a seat by his side and focused her attention on him. "When you wake up, Booth, we have a lot to talk about," she said as she settled in for a long wait.

_A/N: I hope everyone liked this one. I wanted a short introspective piece that sets up a possibly relationship and some serious growth for Brennan. Let me know how it worked. Gregg._


	2. Chapter 2

_After giving it some serious thought, I decided to add two chapters to this one as it seemed appropriate. Here, we see the small conversation that takes place in the waiting room while Booth is in surgery. I hope that this is a good addition to the story. Let me know. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

It had been three hours since Booth had been taken into surgery, and the small group of friends were still in the waiting room. Cam, Angela, Hodgins, and Sweets were too shaken up to leave the room for any purpose. Sweets had finally found a small bit of equilibrium for his emotions, and now he was slightly embarrassed at his outburst a while before. He'd always cared very much for this group of people, despite how they reacted towards him at times, and he had just revealed how much he considered them his friends. Angela sat in her chair next to Hodgins, holding onto his hand as she silently worked through her thoughts about Booth and what he'd come to mean to them all. She recalled the large book on Asian Art that he'd given her a few weeks before and when she'd asked him why, he'd simply said "I saw it and thought you'd like it." It wasn't until later that Bren had told her that he'd spent a couple of hours in an art store looking for something really good to give her to help cheer her up after Roxie broken up with her. Hodgins was thinking of the night of beer and sports that Booth had invited him over for when Angela had dumped him, or they had dumped each other, rather. Booth had told him about what it had been like when Rebecca had told him no to his marriage proposal, and then the hell he'd been through since then to have a semblance of a relationship with his son. Booth had really tried to make him feel better, and showing him that there was someone out there who understood had made a huge difference. Cam was equally torn. Booth had been a boyfriend, lover, colleague, and now very dear friend. She couldn't imagine not having him around to talk to when times were tough, or simply someone to laugh with. For all four, the emotions ran very deep.

"We need to decide what to do if the worst happens," Angela said finally, once she'd worked through her thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Hodgins asked as he saw everyone turn towards Angela.

"Bren," Angela said as she took in the gaze from them all, including Sweets. "Remember last year? Well this will be worse. Think about the last couple of days and what is going on between them. And look at how scared Bren was when she told us about Booth's condition a little while ago. She tried to hide it, but it was there. This will destroy her."

"What do you think, Sweets?" Hodgins asked the young man.

Sweets was torn on this one. On the one hand, Dr. Brennan, and Agent Booth, were his patients, willing or not, and he had certain ethical obligations to protect their confidentiality. But he was also their friend and the possible impact on Brennan if Booth were to die would require the efforts of all of them to get her through it. He made a decision, and hoped that Brennan and Booth would forgive him if they were to find out.

"Angela's right," Sweets told them. "Dr. Brennan will not be able to handle this loss. A year ago it seemed sudden and she had a measure of revenge when she shot and killed Ms. Nunan. Now, though, she will see it unfold in the operating room and not be able to do anything about it if the worst comes to pass. Her feelings of dependence on Agent Booth have become increasingly heightened this past year, and it has allowed her to begin to acknowledge in more open ways her genuine feelings for him without actually saying the words."

"Then what should we do if Booth doesn't make it?" Hodgins offered the question no one wanted to really ask.

"It's difficult to say," Sweets responded. "A lot will depend on her initial reaction. At a minimum, I believe she will have to be sedated and then a lot of communication with all of us over the next few days. The important thing will be that she acknowledges her feelings for Agent Booth and verbalize what he means/meant to her. The last few days she's displayed a very determined effort to construct a logical paradigm to approach motherhood, but if you see her interaction with Agent Booth, it becomes apparent that she is waiting for him to show her what she needs to do to make this work. The logical paradigm is simply a way to get some answers to questions she's afraid to voice."

"Like what?" Angela asked. She'd noticed some of the same things, in particular Bren becoming sharply logical when the subject would be brought up, and then softening when mentioning what Booth said about the subject.

"The one that is at the forefront is whether she's going to be a good mother," Sweets explained. "Dr. Brennan relies on Booth's opinion of her and what she's doing in order to make judgments on things that we take for granted. She trusts him in a way that I doubt she does with anyone else, ourselves included."

"Should we let her work before she has worked some of this out?" Cam asked. She hated the question, but as a supervisor she had to ask, and she remembered Dr. Brennan the year before when the Forensic Anthropologist had thought Booth was dead.

"I think that that question can only be answered once we can assess how well she has accepted Agent Booth's passing, assuming that happens," Sweets told them. "At a minimum, she will need some time off. I would suggest at that point contacting her Father."

"Is she close enough to Max to let him in enough to help her?" Hodgins asked.

"I believe so," Sweets replied.

"So what it boils down to is sedation, talking, possibly work, definitely Max," Angela summed it up.

"Crudely put, but yes," Sweets told them. He'd tried to keep his clinical evaluation of Dr. Brennan as vague as possible, but it was still more detailed than he was ethically comfortable with. "But there's also the question of what we should do assuming Agent Booth survives and fully recovers."

"What do you mean?" Angela asked, and noted that everyone was as confused as she was.

"This has been a traumatic event for Dr. Brennan," Sweets explained. "Add to that the fact that they were considering having a baby, though it was very one sided in terms of participation by her own account, and she is going to wonder now if having such a close attachment to someone is really worthwhile. Will she be able to accept that something like this is a possibility and she should still continue to get closer to Agent Booth? Or will she run away from the possibilities that I believe she is now considering? Quite honestly, it's a toss up at this point."

"She was already hiding just before this happened," Angela told them. When she had their attention, she told them of when Brennan had told her that she wasn't so sure that a commitment was worth it as it was all too ephemeral, using her and Hodgins, her and Roxie, Booth and Rebecca, and Booth and Cam as examples. The very examples she would view as the exemplars to making a decision that for Brennan would be of significant magnitude.

"I would suggest speaking of this with Agent Booth if he comes out of this alright," Sweets told them. "It could be if she has those kinds of reservations, even in light of a desire to have a child with Agent Booth, that he is the one who needs to deal with this issue. We would, however, need to make sure that she does not pull away too far once he recovers."

"I'll deal with that aspect," Angela volunteered. She hated to think of what she'd have to say or do to get Brennan to see reason on it, but she would do whatever it took. Brennan needed to have her reality catch up to her as soon as possible. There was too much at stake this time.

A couple of minutes later they saw Brennan walking towards them, still in scrubs. She looked tired and worn. They all stood.

"The surgery went very well," Brennan told them. "He's still in recovery, but woke up a short time ago. The surgeon feels that he will make a full recovery."

"How long will he be in the hospital?" Angela asked.

"He's going to be under observation for the next week, maybe week and a half," Bones told them. "After that, assuming no further problems, he will be released to go home. Cam," she turned to Camille. "I'm going to need the next month off of work. I want to be able to help Booth and keep him company."

"As long as we can contact you for consults it won't be a problem," Cam told her.

"Agreed," Brennan said with a nod. "I better get back to Booth. I promised I would be right back." She turned and left the small group.

"I guess that tells us how she's taking it," Angela said with shock. "She's not hiding, and she's going to take care of him while he recovers."

The rest simply nodded, also in shock. They were, though, all relieved that Booth was going to be okay. Putting aside their concerns for Brennan, they all genuinely liked and cared for Booth, who they all considered part of their small extended family.

_A/N: There it is. I hope that it all made sense. I have one more chapter for this one and that will be the conversation that Bones has with Booth once he's capable of such a conversation. Thank you for all the great reviews on the first chapter. Gregg._


	3. Chapter 3

_Here's the next to last chapter of this story. I plan on doing a short sequel soon, but want to spend some time on The List and add some chapters to Facing Fear and I Don't Wanna Be A Squint first. In this one we see Bones talking to Booth now that he's awake and in his room after being in recovery. It's not long, but Bones has some things to tell him. I hope you all like this one. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Bones had been hovering all the while that Booth had been settled into his room after a couple of hours in recovery. He was awake, but tired, which didn't surprise her. This kind of surgery was very draining on a person. She'd had a serious discussion with the surgeon, and also with Booth's regular physician about his recovery and what was needed in the near future as far as his long term recovery. She needed to talk with Booth about what she was feeling, and also the fact that she now understood what he had been trying to tell her from the moment that she'd announced that she wanted a baby. She wasn't sure about telling him about her short visit to the hospital chapel and lighting a candle for him. The Surgeon had just left after coming to tell Booth what had happened and what the recovery plan was. Booth had paid attention, but Bones could tell that he was not really capturing the full meaning. She'd explain when he was a bit more alert.

"So everything went okay?" Booth asked when the surgeon left the room. He had a splitting headache, but figured that it was normal when someone had performed surgery on your brain.

"There was some minor tissue damage, but nothing to be too concerned about," she told him, without getting into the technical aspects of it. "The surgery went very well, Booth," she said, taking his hand in hers for the first time since rolling him into the operating room.

"Thank you," he told her sincerely with as much emotional conveyance as he could put into his smile and eyes.

"But the surgeon did all the work, Booth," she relied instantly, not quite catching what he was referring to, or if she had an inkling, she was trying to avoid the avalanche of emotions that came with it.

"That's not what I'm talking about, Bones," Booth explained patiently. "I was really scared, Bones, until I knew that you were going to be in there in the operating room with me. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there."

Bones had hoped to stall this conversation for a bit, perhaps even seek out some guidance from Sweets as he'd warned them that all that had happened the last few days was going to be very impacting on their partnership. He'd been right, and she was willing to consider for the first time ever that perhaps psychology wasn't such a soft science after all. Not that she'd ever admit it aloud to Sweets, but she was revising her estimation of the young man and his professional discipline. Booth seemed to want to focus their conversation on the main subject, though, and she would deny him nothing at this point.

"I lit a candle for you," she told him suddenly. She saw his confused look so she elaborated, not quite believing that she'd told him that. "While you were in recovery and still asleep, I went to the hospital chapel and lit a candle for you," she explained softly. She noticed the shocked look on his face and the raised brows climbing to just under the dressing surrounding his head.

"Bones?" he questioned. He was in shock. Bones had never belittled him for having his beliefs, but she'd always been adamant that she could not accept them as they had no empirical scientific validity. He was floored that she would do something that she knew would have such deep meaning to him when it flew in the face of her own very deep convictions. It was one more piece to the puzzle that he'd been putting together to see if Bones was ready for something serious with him.

"I don't know if it does any good, but I know that you believe that it does, and I wanted to give you some small comfort, even if you weren't aware of it," she told him honestly. She kept her hand in his as she said this, though if she had her hands to herself she would be wringing her fingers trying to hide her nervousness.

He wasn't sure how he should respond to that. One wrong word and she would shy away, and that he could not accept. Not now that they had made some real progress. Instead of trying to make her analyze it, or him think on it too much, he did the simplest and most honest thing that he could. "Thank you," he told her. Wow. Thanking her twice in a few moments must be a new record as far as he could tell.

Bones decided that if Booth wanted to focus the conversation on what she had been trying to avoid for years, then she would bring it into sharp relief. "Are you in love with me?" she asked him with the blunt manner which she knew he was used to receiving from her by now.

Now it was Booth's turn to want to shy away. He'd been hoping that she would admit her feelings and get him off the hook so he could respond to a declaration, but he should have known that Bones wouldn't be that accommodating. Was she ready for the truth? He'd as much as determined that when he told her that he wanted her to have his sperm for a baby if he died during the surgery. He didn't have an acceptable way of avoiding this anymore.

"I have been almost as long as we've known each other," he replied, wanting her to realize that the kind of love he felt for her was also one that allowed for a great deal of patience and a desire to let it all happen the right way. He couldn't say if he had been _in_ love with her for that long, but the feeling of love he had for her had been there from the time that she had made a real effort to comfort the Venezuelan Ambassador's wife at the end of the investigation into the woman's sons death. He'd always known that deep inside Bones really cared, but at that moment he had actually seen a beautiful example of how much she was trying to express it.

"I do want a baby, Booth," she told him as she digested his statement. It meant a lot to her, but also saddened her that she had acted so callously for all these years through her sexual pursuits, blithely commenting on them as time went by. She knew that her feelings had matched his, but she had been too afraid to move beyond her normal patterns in her personal life. His line that he'd drawn had damaged things further. She saw him begin to question the process of the whole baby scenario and she held up her hand. "The right way, Booth," she informed him. She smiled a bit crookedly. "As Angela said it should be you and me naked, sweaty, and ravishing each other with our passion. I think she's right."

Booth almost had a heart attack. Here he was in a hospital bed, his head throbbing in pain after having survived brain surgery, and Boned was right here talking about screwing each other silly. Wasn't it just his luck? The most incredible woman in the world is hot for his form and he was unable to perform even if his life depended on it.

"And what about what I said at the Hoover Building?" he asked instead. Bones needed to know that he had been serious. He couldn't let it become another situation like with Rebecca, arrangement or no arrangement. Bones was different, and his best friend, but it could still happen.

Bones took his hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I want you involved, and I want you in my life," she told him. "It won't be just _my_ baby, it'll be _our_ baby. I wouldn't consider having a child with anyone else, Booth, under any circumstances."

Booth's head was pounding now and he knew that while this conversation was far from over, he was able to be comfortable, emotionally, for the first time in several days. And if Stewie came back for some reason, he could tell the little twerp that he was just fine with the pair he already had. "Am I dreaming?" he asked aloud, though he hadn't intended to say _that_.

Bones chuckled and squeezed his hand again. "No," she assured him. She looked at his face and saw the telltale signs that he was in pain. Not surprising, but it still was hard for her to witness. She stood up and leaned over him, gently brushing a kiss to his cheek next to his lips. "I need to let the others know you're doing okay and also let the nurse know that you need some more painkillers," she told him. They didn't want him self-medicating due to the kind of surgery he'd had, so it was up to the nursing staff to do so.

"Okay," he mumbled as he felt himself beginning to drift off. As he drifted off, he made a note to himself to discuss this with Sweets. The little shits' word game had made this all possible, after all.

Bones looked back at him from the door to the room and saw that he'd fallen asleep again. It hadn't been as deep, or as full a discussion as she'd hoped to have, but the essential elements had been covered. He was in love with her, and they were going to have a baby together the way they should have been considering it all along. She definitely needed to talk to Angela as soon as possible. Her smile was in place, and genuine, when she walked towards the nurse's station.

_A/N: I'm sorry for the delay in this one, but a number of things prevented me from getting it written and posted as soon as I would have liked. There will be one more chapter to this one and then it will be complete. There will be a short sequel that I will write after I have worked on The List some more and also Facing Fear and I Don't Wanna Be A Squint. I hope you all enjoyed this short chapter. Let me know. Gregg._


	4. Chapter 4

_This is the final chapter in this story, but also a bridging chapter to the sequel which I will begin to write very soon. In this one, I wanted to make the story fit, in minor fashion, into the way in which the season finale ended, to wit: Booth has amnesia. Maybe a bit more implausible given how I structured the first three chapters, but I wanted to explore for myself the issue that the show presented us. I applaud the stories on this that have been done so far and hope that when I finish this chapter and the sequel story that my work comes up to the mark set by the others. Thank you for all the great reviews on this story. Gregg._

_Disclaimer: I don't own, or profit from, these characters or franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

Bones knew right away that something was not right when she came back into Booth's hospital room. She'd left about four hours before when he'd been given the pain killers which had also had the bad side effect of rendering him unconscious. Angela had convinced her that taking a few hours to get a short rest would be appropriate, and Bones had relented. She'd wanted nothing more than to stay by his side given the rather deep, though short, conversation they'd had upon his waking up from the surgery. Now entering the room she saw that he was awake, but the way he looked around him was disconcerting, as if he didn't know what was going on.

"Booth?" she asked almost nervously, trying to downplay the nervous tension she was feeling in the room.

Booth turned to face the woman who had entered the room, appreciating her extremely good looks and form. He felt that he should know her somehow, but couldn't place her. In fact he couldn't understand why he was in a hospital room with an IV and monitors attached to him.

"What's going on here?" he asked a bit abruptly. "Why am I here and more importantly, who are you and how do you know my name?"

Bones stood stock still, non-plussed. Her anxiety level shot up instantly, and her long held fears over many things relating to Booth were vying for prominence in her thoughts, though she tamped them down as much as possible. A calm, steady response was what was best for this situation.

"You're at the Georgetown Medical Center where you had surgery to remove a small, benign tumor in your brain," she replied, letting him know the what and why of his inquiry. She moved closer to the bed and glanced at the monitors, thankful that he was not agitated or upset, but instead confused without being on an adrenaline rush. She took a seat next to his bed and looked at him carefully, keeping eye contact the whole time. "As to who I am, I'm Dr. Temperance Brennan, a Forensic Anthropologist at the Jeffersonian Institute. I work with you on murder investigations for the FBI as your partner." She took a deep breath and continued with the last revelation. "Also, as of a few hours ago, I'm your girlfriend. You call me Bones as a nickname."

Booth looked at the beautiful woman incredulously. His _Partner_??? He worked with a _Squint_??? And even more incredible, His _GIRLFRIEND_??? What about Rebecca? What about being the Lone Ranger at the FBI? What about little Parker? Then he figured out a way of finding out something important that could give him some perspective. "What's today's Date?" he asked.

"Today is May 15, 2009," Bones informed him without hesitation.

A deep sense of dread filled Booth at that moment, but he stoically held it together. In his mind Parker had been born just a couple of months ago, so he was missing about seven years of his life. He had to ask one more question.

"What about Rebecca and Parker?" he asked. He didn't know if he could handle anything having happened to them, but he had to know for sure.

"They're fine, Booth," Bones assured him. "You proposed to Rebecca and she said no, while keeping custody of Parker. You have him on some weekends and as many other days as possible and when it doesn't conflict with any plans Rebecca has. He's a wonderful son, and you've been a great Father to him."

Booth sighed in relief. At least nothing bad had happened to them. "And you're my girlfriend?" he asked.

"After over four years of avoiding the issue and getting increasingly closer personally, yes, we've decided to begin a relationship," she told him. "In fact, just a few hours ago, before you developed amnesia, we agreed to have a child." Then she mentally cursed herself. "Booth, I need to get your Doctor in here to run some tests," she told him as she stood up. "I'll be right back," she told him as she saw a slightly panicked look on his face, whether the announcement about them trying to have a child, or her leaving his side she wasn't sure.

"Okay," he said as he panicked a bit at the idea of her leaving his presence. For some reason he felt somehow captivated by her.

Five hours later, and several tests endured, the surgeon drew Bones aside to speak with her.

"As near as I can tell from the tests we've run, some residual pressure built up in the region of the surgery, putting pressure on just the right location which resulted in retrograde amnesia, Dr. Brennan," he informed her, trying to keep this from being too technical. "The pressure from the fluid buildup is now reduced and should not be a problem, but the amnesia could take some time to recover from."

"How long?" Bones asked immediately.

"It's impossible to say, Dr. Brennan," he replied. "It could be hours, days, or even weeks. The important thing is, that when he's released, if the amnesia is still present, he not be alone. Someone will have to stay with him. And it would be preferable that he be in his own home as the familiar surroundings will help with the amnesia."

Bones told the Doctor about the conversation she'd had with Booth right before coming to get the surgeon about the amnesia. "Could I have told him too much?" she asked.

"I doubt it," the surgeon assured her. "Ordinarily it's best to let a person remember on their own, but he obviously is comfortable with you, despite not remembering who you are, so any responses from you he would likely be willing to accept with little or no trouble. I'd suggest using your best judgment, Dr. Brennan." He paused and looked at his watch. "I have one more patient to look in on, Doctor. If you need anything more, don't hesitate to page me."

"Thank you, Doctor," Bones said as the surgeon left after talking to Booth for a moment.

Bones walked back into the room where Booth was. He was in good spirits overall, as nothing was found to indicate that the amnesia was going to be anything but temporary. He was a bit confused, as was to be expected, but not agitated. Now she could be near him and simply be there for him as he'd been doing for her the last five years, even when he would have had every right to tell her to go straight to Hell.

"So how long have we known each other?" he asked when she sat down next to his bed.

"We met five years ago when you were assigned as the liaison to the Jeffersonian," she told him. "The FBI wanted the services of a Forensic Anthropologist and I was the only one anywhere closer than Montreal, Quebec."

"And I took the assignment _willingly_?" he asked a bit skeptically.

Bones smiled in fond remembrance of when he'd first come to the Jeffersonian. "No, not willingly," she revealed. "In fact, we didn't like each other at all, but we somehow managed to work together to solve the case, though I told you I would never work with you again."

"Then how'd we end up as partners?" he pressed. He still couldn't believe that his partner, not just a consultant, was a _Squint_.

"A body was found underwater and you felt that you needed my help. I refused unless I was allowed to be involved in all aspects of the case, including all field work," she added. "You didn't like it, but agreed, and somehow managed to convince Deputy Director Cullen to allow it."

"That tight ass Cullen went along with it???" he asked incredulously. As far as his memory was concerned he didn't work in Cullen's section, but had heard some horror stories about the man, though to be fair the guy was a great field agent.

"After he told you that anything that happened in the field was _your_ responsibility," Bones smiled. Sam Cullen had told her the story a couple of years ago when he had personally stopped by her office to apologize for ever having doubted her benefit to the field work that her and Booth's cases entailed. Now Cullen was a good friend to them both, and considered Booth one of his top agents and likely successor. Somewhat selfishly, both for the FBI and also for her partnership with Booth, she hoped that that day was a long ways off.

"Now _that_ I can believe," Booth said with a small smile and chuckle. He yawned right about then, deeply.

Bones stood and gave him a complete once over with her eyes, taking in everything, including the readings on the monitor. So far so good. "You need to get some more rest, Booth," she told him. "Go back to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

"I am pretty beat," he admitted and closed his eyes. "Thanks, Bones," he murmured as he drifted off.

Bones sat back down and decided to keep a vigil over him. Pulling out her laptop, she began to write some more on her new novel. As she did so, a single tear fell as she felt her world slowly slipping into that bit of chaos that Booth had been able to stave off for the last few years. She promised herself that she was going to do everything in her power to make sure he got better. He had to. They were finally together, and Booth always kept his word. She would make sure he did so this time. He was too special to her and a lot of other people to do any less.

_A/N: Like I said, this is a bridge chapter to the sequel I am planning. I put in some elements about their past working together that the show never really went into any detail about, and I hope to incorporate some of that in the sequel. I hope everyone enjoyed this short finale chapter to this story. Let me know. Gregg._


End file.
